In disease markers such as a tumor marker, several kinds of biomolecules are used as marker molecules. Accordingly, if two or more kinds of disease markers for one disease are simultaneously detected, more accurate diagnosis will become possible.
Conventionally, use of an array or microarray of probes each selectively or specifically binding to a detection target substance is known as a method for simultaneously detecting a plurality of biomolecules that are detection target substances. However, according to the method, though a plurality of detection target substances are simultaneously measured, it is required to individually measure the plurality of detection target substances.
The inventors of the present invention have reported a biomolecule responsive gel that (i) senses a target biomolecule and (ii) swells or shrinks as a result of sensing the target biomolecule (for example, see Patent Literature 1 and Non-Patent Literatures 1 and 2). Patent Literature 1 discloses a nucleic-acid-responsive gel that is a gel in which two single-stranded nucleic acids hybridized with each other are introduced as a source of cross-linking points. The gel has a characteristic that when the two single-stranded nucleic acids hybridized with each other come in contact with a target that causes strand exchange and consequent dissociation of the two single-stranded nucleic acids hybridized with each other, the cross-linking points decrease and the gel thereby swells. The gel of Patent Literature 1 is used to detect a target nucleic acid molecule by utilizing such a characteristic. Further, Non-Patent Literature 1 describes that a gel in which an antigen-antibody complex is introduced as a source of cross-linking points gradually swells in the presence of a target antigen. Furthermore, Non-Patent Literature 2 describes that a gel in which a ligand for a target glycoprotein is introduced gradually shrinks in the presence of the target glycoprotein.